Trump Adviser To Register After Lobbying For Pro-Russia Ukrainian Leader

Trump Adviser To Register After Lobbying For Pro-Russia Ukrainian Leader

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U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman will register as a foreign agent for lobbying work he did on behalf of pro-Russian political interests in Ukraine, his spokesman has said.

Paul Manafort's decision to register comes amid investigations by the FBI and Congress into the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia.

Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said on April 12 Manafort's lobbying for ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's party between 2012 and 2014 was not done on behalf of Russia.

Yanukovych fled to Russia in 2014 amid massive protests against his rule.

By registering retroactively with the Justice Department, Manafort will be acknowledging that he failed to previously disclose his work as required by U.S. law.

Maloni said there was nothing improper about Manafort's political consulting for Yanukovych's political party, including how he was paid, and the lobbying ended before Manafort began working on Trump's campaign in March 2016.

Manafort resigned from Trump's campaign in August after revelations that he was paid millions of dollars to lobby on behalf of Yanukovych and his party.

AP reported that U.S. prosecutors have been looking into Manafort's work for years as part of an effort to recover Ukrainian assets stolen after Yanukovych fled the country.